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Wexalian
General Information The English name for this language is Boyait which is taken from French (which itself is a loan from the Gaulish word Boii). The native name, Cīvls ''ˈkiːvl̩ʃ, comes from the Latin loan word ''cīvīlis with which the native speakers of Boyait named their language as they prided themselves on being a "civilized" group who were educated (though, this was mainly through the fact that they were a very small group of people in a relatively small, noncrucial location where they could live peacefully). The language is taken from Old High German with many French and Czech loan words as well as those from German later on. Sound Changes at the bottom of the page '' Phonology and Orthography Phonology All vowels are allophonically nasal in the cluster /Vnt/ which is pronounced Ṽʔ (V = vowel) Allophony ~ʒ is an allophone of ʃ after a long vowel finally ~ŋ is an allophone of n before k or g ~ð is an allophone of θ after a final long vowel or intervocalically ~Voiceless plosives are allophonically aspired intervocalically and initially Orthography Alphabet '(1)' Used in loans (C - Latin, French, English; Q - English, French; X - Latin, French, English; Y - Greek, Latin; Ç - French; W - English, German). '(2)' With the spread of typing and modern computers, this is being taken over by ''W w. (3) Used in Old French loans to denote t͡s. (4) ß ''is used for an intervocalic or final s while ''ſ is for an s initially or adjacent to another consonant. They're considered two forms of the same letter. (5) 'T is ʔ before and after N; '(7) 'Voiced plosives are devoiced finally Digraphs and Diacritics *''Uu uu ''- w (as stated before, ''W w ''is taking over this multigraph due to the spread of computers) *''Pf pf ''- p͡f *''Ei ei ''- i *''Ou ou ''- u *''Oa oa ''- o̯ə *''Ai ai ''- ɛ in native words *''Au au ''- ɔ in native words *''Ll ll ''- l everywhere *''Bp, Dt, Gk ''- b, d, and g finally *Þþ ''- θ intervocallically *''É é, È è ''- used in loans and some native words (ɪ and ɛ; from French influence) *''Ó ó ''- used in loans and some native words (ʊ; from French influence) *''Ü ü ''- yː; from German influence (most common in native words) *''Ö ö ''- øː; from German influence (most common in native words) *''Ä ä ''- ɛː *''Äu äu ''- ɔː *''Œu œu'', Eu eu ''- øː; from French influence (mainly in loans) *''Qu qu ''- k from French (kw would be ''Quu quu ''or ''Qw qw) *''Te te ''- t: this is only used finally to represent a final t ''that's t rather than ʔ *''Vnt ''- (where ''V = vowel) is Ṽʔ (ex: daint ''dɛ̃ʔ - with the _) *''Tn tn ''- ʔn̩ *''Nn nn ''- this is where there are two N's: one in the preceding syllable and the syllabic N in it's own (nˈn) *''Ph ph,'' Th th'','' Ch ch ''- f, θ, x from Greek or Latin from Greek *''Ā ā'', Ī ī, Ē ē, Ū ū, Ō ō ''- aː, iː, eː, uː, oː Grammar General Information Counter to most germanic languages, all declensions were lost in Boyait. Instead, a more complex article based system was formed to represent case, gender, definitiveness, and plurality. Cases Note that these definitions are not the technical definitions, but the grammatical terms used in Boyait to describe them. Also note that the prepositional cases can be expanded with additional prepositional clitics. Plural and Mass Nouns To denote plurality (either mass or plural) in Boyait, there is a clitic. This clitic changes according to the type of noun the proceeds it. This is determined by the declension class in Old High German. For example: ''tak's plural is tak'e. Since there is no way to know this other than the Old High German plural (to which there are still irregularities), the plural form will be written with the word. The lexical standard form is «-'n» for use in this article meaning the raw clitic form (this is because «-'n»'' is the most common form of this clitic and used in articles). Note that mass nouns don't use the plural clitic. ''Mass nouns ''refer to the nouns that represent an uncountable amount of a noun (represented by the zero, or lack of an, article in English). Nouns Articles Please note that the sound changes among articles are not exact in any way. They've been heavily simplified from their original forms for simplicity. General Information The prepositional cases Usually, the inessive, ablative, locative, and comitative cases come from a simplified, grammaticized contraction of the Old High German DAT + ''in, DAT + ūz, GEN + inna, and DAT + mit ''respectively. Plural and Mass Nouns The plural of an article is the singular form with the plural clitic, -'n, after it. Definite Definitie articles are used for noun relating to specific and proper nouns (such as countries or people). ''Near ''refers to nouns that are close to you, and ''Away ''refers to nouns that are away from you, but these definitions can mixed sometimes so the ''Near ''is the default (as in that it refers to proper nouns, and it's what is resorted to if one were confused). Near Comes from ''der, the. Away Comes from jenēr, that. Indefinite Comes from ein, one. This is used to refer to groups of nouns (not mass nouns) and a noun in general but not specifically the one used as an example. Partative Comes from dehein, some/any. This refers to nouns that are a part of another (such as "a piece of pie," "some coffee," "a slice of cake," etc). Pronouns Personal Note that the lack of the locative case here is intended: locative personal pronouns don't exist in Boyait. Verbs Note: an explination of the subjunctive will be explained in the Dependent Clause section. Umlauts In a given conjugation, the stem may change to something similar (such as plägm ''becoming ''plaigem ''in the subjunctive). #/ä > ai/ and /äu > au/ with more than one vowel #/z > ß/ finally #/l > ll/ finally #/j > i/ finally #/uu > u/ finally Paraphrastic Constructions The preterite had been merged with the present form resorting in the required use of ''to have as an auxillary verb leading to various additional paraphrastic combinations. Note: the subjunctive can be applied to phrases by putting an astrix on the verb that would be put in the subjunctive (if there's no astrix, the phrase can't be subjunctive).. *''to have''* present + past participle = preterite *''to have past + past participle = historical preterite (also used as an exaggeration) *''to be*'' present + ''to have ''past participle + present participle = habitual past/imperfect *''will ''present + present participle = future *''will ''present + ''to have ''present participle + past participle = future past *''will ''past + present participle = conditional (as in ''I'd do that, I'd like that, I'd rather…) *''to be''*'' present + past participle = present passive *''to be*'' past + past participle = past passive *''to be*'' past + ''to have ''past participle + present participle = habitual past/imperfect passive *''will ''present + ''to be ''present participle + past participle = future passive *''will ''present + ''to be ''past participle + ''to have ''present participle + past participle = future past passive *''will ''past + ''to be ''past participle + present participle = conditional passive Weak Verbs Class I These came from OHG ''-en. plägn plɛ:gn̩ - to assist medically, to nurse, to help Class II These came from OHG ''-ōn'' and ''-ēn (they merged). duuaren dwarən - to play (relating to children), to horseplay Strong Verbs Strong verbs decline by changing the principle vowel in an ablaut (English has somthing similar. For example, ''run ''vs. ''ran, write ''vs. ''wrote, and understand vs. understood). In addition to this, there are some consonant changes to match the vowels. The parts that are effected by the ablaut are the Indicative Present, the Indicative Preterite (which is affixal here rather than paraphrastic such as the preterite of the weak verb) Singular and Plural, and the Past Participle. The roman numerals indicate the Class of strong verb. Auxillary Verbs Note that these forms are different from their lexical forms (forms where they fuction as real verbs rather than auxillaries) due to heavy simplification. To Have Used for various past and perfect conjugations. It comes from habēn, to have. To Be Used for the habitual tense and passive voice. Comes from wesan, to be. Will Used for the future tense (like to go in English). Comes from wellen, will. Syntax Noun Phrase Noun phrases consist of a single noun (or noun-like word such as a gerund, nominalized adjective, etc), its adjectives, and its article. Articles always preceed the noun as in English and Romance languages while adjectives always follow the noun (Boyait is head-initial). They follow the equal adjectives principle in English where adjectives that describe the noun are adjecent to the noun (usually being one adjective) and adjectives that describe the noun-describing adjectives follow thereafter. In cases where adjectives all describe the noun, the order is irrelevant. Some nouns are fusions of two nouns together (such as sleep-walking or bed-spread): these are treated as one word together rather than two seperate nouns. Prepositions go before/are the article and are slightly more complex in Boyait. The article can be a general preposition and article when speaking in general terms (such as in, at, etc). Though, there are prepositions for more complex prepositional ideas which are mostly compound prepositions with the article. If a seperate preposition is used without the following pronoun, the pronoun will take the accusative. Genitive/Possessive constructs are simple: they have the owned noun followed by the owning noun with the genitive article. This works like the English construction The father of the boy (Boyait: Dair fader daiß gaçn). Possessive pronouns work the same way but with pronouns. Verb Phrase Verbs come directly after the subject phrase (though, this may be assumed and therefore just the verb will appear with the subject in context). A verb phrase consists of the main verb (which can be preceeded by its auxillaries in a paraphrastic phrase) followed by its adverb: adverbs are placed after the verb (in paraphrastic phrases, it still goes at the end of the entire phrase) except in the case of tempral adverbs (example: yesterday, today, usually, habitually, etc) which are placed before the verb phrase. There is no copula (this will be explained in the Dependent Clause part). Interrogative Questions are very liberal in Boyait. General questions (such as Are you going to the movies?) which require a yes/no answer are assumed by a rise in intonation similar to that in French. Other question words such as where, how, etc are usually assumed (ex: Where are you going tonight? would be are you going tonight?) where the question word and person are assumed in the context and the intonation. Keep in note that this can be often overlooked when there is ambiguty or there is a formal situation. Clauses Independent Independent clause are very simple and it works somewhat like Japanese. There only needs to the word most relevent to the context of the situation as in that if the noun is known due to the context of the situation, it isn't necessary to say and the verb alone is said (examples: "you good?" – "yeah"; "do you live?" – "live in America"; "you want cake?" – "nah, I'm full"; "he nice?" – "of course"; etc). This is the same with nouns vs. verbs. Though, patients should always be stated even if assumed or just pronouns. As stated before, Boyait is SVO. Dependent Various types of dependent clauses can be introduced multiple different ways: Conjunctional This is the most common dependent clauses which is introduced with a subordinating conjunction. A conjunctional dependent clause must have an object. If-clauses are a different type of dependent clause. Basic/Subjunctive This is another common dependent clause type which involves that. Unlike English, this is a required particle. This particle doesn't make a difference between human (who) vs. non-human (that, which). The Basic/Subjunctive and the Conditional Clauses are the only clauses where the subjunctive is possible in Boyait. The subjunctive is used when expressing a want (ex: ''I want that you '''be good''), a requirement (ex: It's necessary that you '''act' well''). Conditional Conditional clauses are introduced with the conjunction if followed by the condition and the result of that condition following that. This makes great use of the subjunctive. The placing of the condition statement (starting with if) is free based on emphasis although speakers have a tendency to place the condition at the end of the sentence. Here are the conditions (where the symbol ~̣̇ represents the mood of both main verbs): *If X is true, Y is true (indicative present ~̣̇ indicative present) *If X is true, Y will be true (indicative present ~̣̇ indicative future) *If X was true, Y will be true (indicative preterite/imperfect ~̣̇ indicative future) *If X is true, Y could be true (indicative present ~̣̇ subjunctive past) *If X was true, Y would be true (indicative past ~̣̇ subjunctive present) *If X were true, Y would be true (subjunctive past ~̣̇ subjunctive present) *(If X were possible, could happen, etc), Y would be true (Y = conditional) Formality There is a small T-V distinction that works the same way as French. Otherwise, formal situations are much different than familiar in that the otherwise common use of leaving words out that are assumed in the context is disregarded and a full SVO sentence is used in the same manner as English. Interrogatives here work by inverting the subject and the verb (where the pronoun is used). Additionally, when speaking to someone of higher social class/rank, their honorific (ma'am/madam/madamoiselle, sir/monsieur, your highness, etc) is used. Sound Changes C - consonant; V - vowel; grave accent ''- unstressed; ''acute accent ''- stressed; L - w, j, r; J - iː, e, eː; F - fricative. i > j/_V (except below diphthongs) *morganlioxt > morganljoxt – – n. ''morning light eɪ̯ > i: *klein > kli:n – – – – – – n. small io̯ > ø: *niosan > nø:san – – – – – v. sneeze iu̯ > y: *liudōn > lydōn – – – – – v. hum ou̯ > u: *ubarloufan > ubarlu:fan – – v. run across, traverse sk > ʃk!_# > ʃ *skūfala > ʃkūfala – – – – n. shovel sp > ʃp!_# > ʃ *sprex:an > ʃprexːan – – – – v. to speak sx > ʃ *daxsxūt > daxʃūt – – – – – n. beaver skin x > θ/V_J *xōxspāxi > xōxʃpāθi – – – – n. to be a master Geminates were simplified and their preceeding vowel became elongated *gimitten > gimi:ten v. ''halve w > v/_J *grāwī > grāvī – – – – – – n. ''gray V > V:/_xC *rixt > rīt – – – – – – – n. right V:x > V:/_C *xōxspāθi > xōʃpāθi – – – – n. to be a master Vrl > V:d *wuntarlīx > wuntādīx – – – adj. admirable s > x/V_V *bilōsen > bilōxen – – – – v. behead, take away CV̀L > CL *ʃkūfala > ʃkūfla – – – – – n. shovel C(V, V:)n > Cn̩ *bilōxen > bilōxn̩ – – – – – v. behead, take away CV̀l > Cl *wexsal > vēsl̩ – – – – – n. change, exchange, bill V:(θ, f)V > V:(ð, v)V *xōspāθi > xōʃpāði – – – – n. to be a master V̀ > ∅/_# *ʃkūfla > ʃkūfl̩ – – – – – n. shovel V̀: > V/_# *grāvī > grāvi – – – – – – n. gray V:F > V:F̬/_# *pfīfa > pfīv – – – – – – n. flute final obstruent devoicing *lodo > lot – – – – – – – n. coarse woolen cloth t͡s, st > s/_# *dit͡s > dis – – – – – – – n. this p > f/_#!C_ *griobo > grjof – – – – – n. firewood bf, bw, bv > p͡f *unselbwaltīg > unselp͡fl̩tīk – – adj. dependent t > θ/(C, V:, i)_#!n_# *ebanalt > ebanl̩θ – – – – – n. of the same age k, t, p > ʔ/_# *lot > loʔ – – – – – – – n. coarse woolen cloth tn, dn > ʔn *gimi:ten > gimi:ʔn̩ – – – – v. halve t > d/V_V *fater > fader – – – – – – n. father V̀ > ə/closed &/or primary syllable *bilōxn̩ > bəlōxn̩ – – – – – v. behead, take away V: > V/if the preceding syllable already has a long vowel (except ū ''and ''ī), but if the long vowel is ultimate preceding a voiced fricative, the long vowel preceding that one is simplified to a diphthong* *xōʃpāð > xu̯oʃpāð – – – – – n. to be a master o > ɔ *loʔ > lɔʔ – – – – – – – n. coarse woolen cloth e > ɛ *bero > bɛr – – – – – – – n. bear ì > ɪ *sinwelbī > senvɛlbɪ – – – – n. bale ù > o̯ə/Ɵ, mono-/bisyllablic *daxʃut > dāʃo̯ət – – – – – n. beaver skin ù > ə *wa:rum > wa:rəm – – – – – n. ''were ɛ´ > ɛ´: (only in mono- or bisyllabic words) *bɛr > bɛːr – – n. ''bear ɔ́ > ɔ́: (only in mono- or bisyllablic words) *lɔʔ > lɔːʔ – – n. coarse woolen cloth è > ə/_# *senvɛlbe > senvɛlbə – – – – n. bale l > j/V:_C *t͡se:ln̩ > t͡se:jn – – – – – v. tell Vnt > Ṽʔ/_# *abgrunti > abgrũʔ – – – – n. deep, profound tj, dj > tʃ, dʒ/_V *skaltjar > ʃkaltʃar – – – – n. leap year FVr > Fr/_# *ʃkaltʃar > ʃkaltʃr̩ – – – – n. leap year Loan words ɲ > nj z > t͡s y > y: ø > ø: e > ɛ ĩ, ỹ, ẽ, õ, ã > i, u:, ɛ, ɔ, ɛ (*) ō'', ''ē, ā'', ''ī, ū'' > ''u̯o, i̯e, i̯ə, i̯ɛ, u̯ɔ ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Category:August Germlang Challenge Category:Languages Category:Germanic conlangs